Saturday, November 15, 2008

shop fun

11.5 hours with my missy
Too long at the shop today... we spent the morning working on the rudder; the trailing edge is curing with a bond of pro seal.  I will rivet it double flush on tuesday to complete the metal work.

Finished the right elevator.  Bending the leading edge was a bugger.  Perhaps the success that we had with the rudder along with the first section on the elevator led to a casual attitude to the mid section... it was a mess... after enormous additional effort is is only okay.  Fortunately the piece is completely concealed within the structure of the vertical stabilizer and should only serve as a bit of experience and learning.  Bending the last of the three sections was uneventful and came out fine.

Fabricated a rod bearing end insertion tool similar to others... works good.

my babe, and most excellent aircraft assembly woman at work!

my Missy ;) 
elevator plan
fitting up one of the fiberglass elevator tips
the rudder with the trailing edge pro sealed up clamped to a straight edge
lead counterweight for the elevator
The two elevator sides are not identical.  The left half includes the trim tab assembly and servo and needs more counterbalance weight... the cast block needs to be cut down a bit as noted on the plans for the right side.

working with lead is not fun... strings of lead and plugged bits
look at that!
completed right elevator... lead counter weight cut down incorrectly...
plan for fabricating a rod end bearing wrench with PVC
PVC rod end bearing tool
action shot for the man!